TRAD 101: TRAD 101: LanguagesLanguages

and and CulturesCultures

of of East AsiaEast Asia

WritingWritingSystemsSystems

Writing Systems

What is writing?

Writing Systems

What is writing?

A way to record meaning, sounds, and/or other parts of a language

Signs can be read a

number of ways:

poison

poisonous

danger

skull and crossbones

pirate

Writing Systems

What is writing?

Writing can be:

a visual symbol associated with a linguistic form

correspondence with meaning (rather than concept)

Types of Writing Systems

Alphabetic

Syllabic

Logographic

Writing Systems

Types of Writing Systems

Alphabetic

symbol = phoneme or sound

c + a + t = cat

d+ o + g = dog

Syllabic

Logographic

Writing Systems

Types of Writing Systems

Alphabetic

Syllabic

symbol = syllable

(ne) (ko) neko cat

(i) (nu) inu dog

Logographic

Writing Systems

Types of Writing Systems

Alphabetic

Syllabic

Logographic

symbol = morpheme

neko cat

inu dog

Origin of Writing

Earliest forms

Began with symbols used to represent large units of language (words or morphemes)

Moved towards smaller units

syllables

phonemes

Origin of Writing

Sumerian

Mesopotamia

(modern Iraq)

3100 BCE

Cuneiform writing

system

Origin of Writing

Egyptian

Egypt

3000 BCE

Hieroglyphic writing

over 2000 hieroglyphs that could represent either a common object, an idea associated with that object, or a sound

rebus writing

Origin of Writing

Chinese

14th c. BCE (or earlier)

oldest writing system still in use

~56,000 characters

need to know about 3000 to read a Chinese newspaper (about 2000 characters for a Japanese paper; a few hundred for Korean paper)

Origin of Writing

Chinese

Literacy in China is evaluated by the number of characters (not words) a person can read

graduates from primary school 2500 characters

college graduates 3500 characters

Homophones

large number of distinct characters sound alike, because the words they represent sound alike

characters make it easy to understand the correct meaning

Origin of Writing

Chinese

Each character represents a morpheme

Chinese is an isolating language

No spaces between words

Internal Structure of Characters

Pictograph

originated from a picture or an object

original form clearly shows the picture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nSSSp8QFsA&feature=related

Internal Structure of Characters

Ideograph

diagrammatic indication of ideas

tree, wood

sword

water

Internal Structure of Characters

Ideograph

diagrammatic indication of ideas

tree, wood center

sword cut

water icehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mMftZN1oHg

Internal Structure of Characters

Semantic-phonetic compounds

most frequent

consists of two parts:

radical gives general meaning

phonetic gives pronunciation

Chinese Writing

Character writing

radical

phonetic element

there are 214 radicals, some common ones have to do with the 5 elements, people, etc.

you need to learn to recognize the common radicals (just their meanings, not their various pronunciations)

Common Radicals

The 5 elementsThe blue lines represent the Creation cycle (e.g. "Water creates Wood" - i.e. Water energy has a tendency to transform into Wood), and the black lines represent the Control cycle (e.g. "Water controls Fire" -i.e. Water energy, if present in any quantity, has a moderating effect on Fire).

http://www.andrew-may.com/zendynamics/elements.htm

Common Radicals

The 5 elements

Important for Chinese Medicine, Astrology, Feng shui

http://chinese.astrology.com/

Common Radicals

The 5 elements

Water

Solitude, privacy, introspection, philosophy, mystery, truth, honesty, anxiety, nervousness, insecurity.

Images: Black, Night, Winter

Some characters:

Common Radicals

The 5 elements

Wood

Leadership, assertiveness, creativity, planning, decision-making, competitiveness, conflict, anger, frustration.

Images: Green, Morning, Spring

Some characters:

Common Radicals

The 5 elements

Fire

Self-expression, emotional extremes, empathy, extrovert, attention-seeking, sociable, talkative.

Images: Red, Mid-day, Midsummer

Some characters:

Common Radicals

The 5 elements

Earth

Caring, supportive, nourishing, family-oriented, stability, grounding, "mother hen", worrier.

Images: Yellow, Afternoon, Late summer

Some characters:

Common Radicals

The 5 elements

Metal

Precise, meticulous, logical, analytical, moderation, self-control, morality, tendency to pessimism.

Images: White, Evening, Autumn

Some characters:

Common Radicals

People

Person

Some characters: (ren)

Common Radicals

People

Woman

Some characters:

Common Radicals

People

Child

Some characters:

Common Phonetic Elements

White

http://www.cjvlang.com/Writing/writchin/writchin3.html

Word formation

Character compounds

One character = one morpheme

Characters can be combined to make new words

Word formation

Character compounds

One character = one morpheme

Characters can be combined to make new words

What morphological process is shown here?

Reduplication

This word means: people, everybody, each person

Word formation

Character compounds

One character = one morpheme

Characters can be combined to make new words

(power)

human power, human strength

Logographic System

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a logographic writing system?

Advantages

Eliminate ambiguity

differentiates homophonous morphemes

Can use across times and dialects

Mandarin and Cantonese

Ancient and Modern Chinese

Logographic System

Disadvantages

Difficulty of learning

characters average 11 strokes per character

30% of total class time in primary and secondary education

Literacy

before 1950s approximately 10%

1980s 70%

total population: 90.9% (according to CIA factbook)

male: 95.1%

female: 86.5% (2000 census)

Logographic System

Disadvantages

Difficulty of use

dictionary

word processing

Contribution to discrepancy between writing and speech

characters have different phonetic values in different dialects

does not encourage the promotion of a spoken lingua franca

Influence of Chinese writing

Influence of Chinese Writing

The Chinese writing system was used to record Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese

Characters could be used for phonetic or semantic values

The writing system was used consistently when used to record foreign (i.e., non-Chinese) languages.

This gives us insight as to how words were pronounced in ancient times in Chinese and the borrowing language

Writing as an Art

Calligraphy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKNn8ylY_Zc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7dCdQMuqDg

Writing Systems

What types of writing systems are there?

Alphabetic

Syllabic

Logographic

What do you find in Japanese?

All 3:

alphabetic = Romaji

syllabic = kana (hiragana and katakana)

logographic = kanji (Chinese characters)

Introduction of Writing Systems

When was writing introduced to Japan?

Some say 4th c. CE, some say 5th c.

Introduced to Japan via Korea

Japanese words were recorded in Chinese in the 3rd c. CE in the Wei zhi ("Chronicles of Wei"), which is a history of the Wei state (220-265 CE).

In the 5th c. Japanese writings are found on artifacts, such as swords and mirrors

In the 8th c. the first Japanese texts were written: Kojiki (712); Nihon shoki (720); Man'ysh (759?)

Introduction of Writing Systems

How was Chinese writing borrowed?

What kinds of problems would speakers of Japanese (and Korean) have using Chinese writing?

Linguistic differences

phonetics/phonology

morphology

syntax

Introduction of Writing Systems

Syntax

What word order is found in CJK languages?

C: SVO

JK: SOV

Would this cause problems when trying to write JK with Chinese characters?

It didn't really there are some examples in Japanese and Korean texts which were written in Chinese (i.e., not the native languages) where syntactic structures of both languages are used.

Introduction of Writing Systems

Morphology

What morphological systems did/do CJK languages have?

C: isolating

JK: agglutinative

Would this make it hard to write Japanese and Korean with Chinese characters?

To account for differences, there are Chinese characters borrowed for meaning (semantograms) and characters borrowed for their phonetic values (phonograms)

Introduction of Writing Systems

Morphology

Example: semantogram phonogram

ARE Nt

AR-E-Nt

exist-EVD-CONC

Although [it] exists

(MYS I: 2)

Introduction of Writing Systems

Phonetics/Phonology

Did Japanese and Korean have the same phonemes that Chinese had?

How were characters chosen to record Japanese and Korean sounds?

similar to word borrowings: the closest sound is chosen to approximate the correct sound

different pronunciations are found for the same characters used in the Kojiki and the Nihon shoki

this is because the government changed in China

the result is that in Modern Japanese, there can be many Chinese readings for characters

Introduction of Writing Systems

Phonetics/Phonology

Example:

aputi-n pana pa tir-i-n-uNpy-si

aputi-GEN flower TOP fall-INF-PERF-DEB-FIN

The flowers of the aputi tree have probably fallen.

(MYS V: 798)

Development of Writing Systems

Kana

Over time the phonograms simplified

Onnade (woman's hand; often translated as women's writing) develops during the Heian period

based on the phonograms found in the earlier texts

several characters could be used to write any syllable, but fewer possible characters per syllable than in the Nara period

women's literature was popular during this time; women could use this phonetic script while men wrote in Chinese.

Development of Writing Systems

Kana

Modern Hiragana developed from onnade, but it wasn't standardized until 1946; now only one symbol is used to record each syllable

next slide from: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese_hiragana.htm

Development of Writing Systems

Kana

Katakana was originally developed by Buddhist monks

It was well established by the 14th c., and was one kana per syllable by this time

Hiragana developed from cursive forms of phonograms; katakana developed from taking a piece of a character

Hiragana are more rounded; katakana more straight

Development of Writing Systems

Kana

In modern Japanese, you can find a mix of Chinese characters, hiragana, and katakana:

watashi no namae wa Kim Sam-Soon desu.

My name is Kim Sam-Soon .

Development of Writing Systems

Kanji

Characters have Chinese readings (on yomi) and Japanese readings (kun yomi)

In compounds, typically the Chinese readings are used

For names, typically the Japanese readings are used

If used as a verb, typically the Japanese readings are used

Development of Writing Systems

Kanji

can be read a number of ways:

gakusei

ikiru

umu

issh /is:ho:/

etc.

Writing Systems

What kind of writing system(s) are used to write Korean?

alphabetic: Hankul or cosenkul (osnkul)

logographic: Chinese characters

Origins of the Korean Writing Systems

When were Chinese characters first used?

Oldest attested writing is a stone inscription from 414 CE

Xylography was invented by the 8th century

xylography is a fancy way to say woodblock printing

oldest sample is from 751, which makes it the first printing in the world

The Koreans invented metal movable type

metal movable type was used to print books by 1234 CE

compare this to Guttenberg's invention of 1440 CE

Origins of the Korean Writing Systems

What kinds of problems did Koreans encounter when writing their language with Chinese characters?

linguistic differences

phonetics/phonology

morphology most important

syntax

Origins of the Korean Writing Systems

How were Chinese characters used?

used to write hanmun, the Korean version of classical Chinese (similar to kanbun, the Japanese version of classical Chinese)

official documents were written in hanmun until the 20th

century

Origins of the Korean Writing Systems

How were Chinese characters used?

hyangchal system

similar to man'ygana, the Japanese phonetic system of the Nara period

found in Hyanga, the oldest texts

ancient poems of the Silla and Koryo eras, 25 remain

probably written between 600-879 and 963-967

Origins of the Korean Writing Systems

Hyanga sample

go-conceal-spring-all-reason-rice ???

mix of:

semantograms

phonograms

rebus writing

Origins of the Korean Writing Systems

Hyanga sample

semantograms

go (ka?) spring (pom?)

phonograms

n rimi

rebus writing

moto

Origins of the Korean Writing Systems

Hangul

King Sejong invented Hankul during the 12th month of the 25th year of his reign

this is either in 1443 or 1444; the discrepancy caused by lunar calendar dating

We know he created it because:

the event is recorded in official documents

Hwunmin cengum hayley (Explanations and examples of the correct sounds for the instruction of the people)

they say so (but hankul was probably created by a committee)

Origins of the Korean Writing Systems

Hankul

very scientific

Rules for Writing with Hankul

Letters are grouped together as syllables

the direction the vowel points determines the shape

for a CV syllable: if the vowel points left, right, or is vertical, then consonant goes to the left of the vowel

Rules for Writing with Hankul

Letters are grouped together as syllables

the direction the vowel points determines the shape

for a CV syllable: if the vowel points left, right, or is vertical, then consonant goes to the left of the vowel

Rules for Writing with Hankul

Letters are grouped together as syllables

the direction the vowel points determines the shape

for a CV syllable: if the vowel points left, right, or is vertical, then consonant goes to the left of the vowel

for a CV syllable: if the vowel points up, down, or is horizontal, then the consonant goes above the vowel

Rules for Writing with Hankul

Letters are grouped together as syllables

the direction the vowel points determines the shape

for a CV syllable: if the vowel points left, right, or is vertical, then consonant goes to the left of the vowel

for a CV syllable: if the vowel points up, down, or is horizontal, then the consonant goes above the vowel

Rules for Writing with Hankul

Letters are grouped together as syllables

the direction the vowel points determines the shape

for a CV syllable: if the vowel points left, right, or is vertical, then consonant goes to the left of the vowel

for a CV syllable: if the vowel points up, down, or is horizontal, then the consonant goes above the vowel

for CVC syllables: the initial consonant goes to the left or above the vowel, following the rules above, the final consonant of the syllable goes below the vowel

Rules for Writing with Hankul

Letters are grouped together as syllables

the direction the vowel points determines the shape

for a CV syllable: if the vowel points left, right, or is vertical, then consonant goes to the left of the vowel

for a CV syllable: if the vowel points up, down, or is horizontal, then the consonant goes above the vowel

for CVC syllables: the initial consonant goes to the left or above the vowel, following the rules above, the final consonant of the syllable goes below the vowel

Rules for Writing with Hankul

Letters are grouped together as syllables

the direction the vowel points determines the shape

for a CV syllable: if the vowel points left, right, or is vertical, then consonant goes to the left of the vowel

for a CV syllable: if the vowel points up, down, or is horizontal, then the consonant goes above the vowel

for CVC syllables: the initial consonant goes to the left or above the vowel, following the rules above, the final consonant of the syllable goes below the vowel

for syllables beginning with a vowel (V or VC): a is placed to the left or above the vowel

Rules for Writing with Hankul

Try these:

na mu po li min tl l

Rules for Writing with Hankul

Try these:

> 'tree' > 'barley' > 'dandelion'

Rules for Writing with Hankul

Try these:

kil pi yu mot han gul

Rules for Writing with Hankul

Try these:

kil pi yu mot han gul